The Long Ride
by bishop2420
Summary: One Shot: Harry Ron and Hermione find their beliefs about each other challenged as they ride home on the Hogwarts Express after a difficult year. STORY UP FOR ADOPTION: NO RESTRICTIONS.


**AN: Not a new chapter. I just read this again and realize that it need some editing.**

Ron was not stupid.

In fact he was above average in both intelligence and magical power. If it wasn't for the fact that one of his two best friends was a genius and the other was the Boy-Who-Lived, he was pretty sure he would be considered a very good student. It might even be possible that his parents would consider him a succeeding student.

It was true that his grades weren't as good as Percy's or Bill's but he was closer to them than many would assume. And he was doing much better than the twins and as good if not slightly better than Charlie had. But his friends are who they are and so, by comparison, he is perceived a failure. He is the guy who isn't as smart as Hermione and not as brave as harry and it, frankly, pissed him off.

Currently, he was sitting across from Harry and Hermione listening to Harry whine about not being normal. Despite not saying a word Harry had already accused him of not understanding how he felt because "you have parents who love you." Ron chuckled to himself. "If only you knew." He thought bitterly.

Sure his parents loved him but the dirty little family secret was that of all his siblings he was the only disappointing birth. Bill and Charlie (the heir and the spare) where welcomed with joy. After that the Weasley family plan was to have three more kids to round out his mother's wish for a big family. Percy came along as planned and then the twins.

In the wizarding world, twins are less rare than the muggle world but are considered a blessing from magic itself. Magical women never gave birth to first-born twins. His mother wanted a daughter to complete her perfect family and instead she got Ronald Weasley. The depth of her disappointment was constantly made obvious to Ron by the fact that she almost immediately got pregnant again to get her daughter.

"I wonder if Mr. You Got Parents Who Love You ever stopped to wonder why I'm the only consistent victim of the Weasley twins' pranks at the Borrow." He started to fume in his mind. "I wonder if he would be so quick to trade his mother who loved him so much she faced Voldemort and died for his mother who loved him so little that she told the twins it was OK to prank him but his sister was completely off limits." Finally he had enough.

"Why?"

…

Both Hermione and Harry looked up. That was the first word Ron had spoken since they got on the train. Harry looked at Hermione who had her eyes narrowed at Ron and then at Ron before he replied, "What?" Ron ignored Hermione's deepening glare and spoke, "Why do you want to be normal? You obviously hate your relatives who you say are religiously normal. So why are you so desperate to be perceived to be normal like them? I would think that the last thing you would want to be is normal. The Weasley family is considered very normal by wizarding standards and I hate it. The fact that we aren't normal is what makes our friendship so interesting to me. So why do you want to be normal?"

Harry was about to respond with his typical complaints about all the uncomfortable attention he received and how much he disliked it, when Ron's words penetrated into his mind and stopped him. The truth was he didn't know why he wanted to be normal. Hermione noticing the pensive look on Harry's face turned to Ron preparing to yell at him for his insensitivity when Harry stopped her. "No Hermione, it's a good question and I honestly don't know the answer." The train car slipped into an uneasy silence.

…

Ron started to scowl as he thought about how unwelcome he felt in all of his relationships. Whether he was with his family, his friends, in classes, or with teachers; he was always made to feel as if he was unwanted. His anger started to devolve into sadness and strained under the pressure to keep his emotions in check. He refused to be pitied.

…

Hermione did not like admitting that someone else had insight that she had not picked up on. Especially if that someone else was Ron. Ron was a stereotypical boy that only thought with his stomach. He was immature and crude and some days she wondered why her and Harry were friends with him. She realized that she was being unfair to him and went through a few breathing exercises to calm herself.

After she calmed herself she looked over at the frustrating boy and was startled to notice the hurt in Ron's expression that he was trying to cover with his scowl. Something about it cut her deeply and she felt like she caused some of it, but couldn't figure out how. "Are you OK Ron?" she asked and his Harryish reply of "fine" mixed with a bit of loathing toward her just confirmed her initial thought.

She didn't know how to handle the influx of feelings his response caused in her. Looking at him closely she could see the hurt he was feeling and knew she had seen it and ignored it before. Everyone knew when he had hurt her feelings and always sided with her. Now she wondered how often she had hurt his feelings and he was left to hurt alone. That thought was sobering and she sank deeper into the uneasy silence.

…

For his part Harry kept pondering why exactly he wanted to be normal. When he heard Ron's "fine", a second though crept into his head. Why isn't Hermione trying to comfort him? He knew that if he looked like Ron did and said "fine" like that, Hermione would try to comfort him and Ron would try to make him laugh. The fact that Ron looked as he did and neither he nor Hermione seemed inclined to do anything about it made him wonder if he had already achieved his relative's version of normal. That thought was not welcome.

The train had been stopped for 5 minutes and none of the three had moved. It was obvious to Hermione that Harry wouldn't want to have to deal with his relatives but now that she was paying attention, she realized that Ron didn't really want to leave the train either. "Ron, I know why Harry doesn't want to leave, but why do you look like you don't want to leave?"

Ron looked at her for a second and then said "My parents don't love me, not really" At that, he stood up and started gathering his things since he didn't expect them to believe him. Hermione and Harry chose to believe him because he had no reason to lie to them about something like this and they didn't think they were in a position to counter his belief with any real evidence. Instead Hermione decided to be better friend and got up and hugged a surprised Ron and said "I am sorry". She then turned to the both of them and asked "Would the two of you like to spend the summer at my house?"


End file.
